Justification
by Redbeard-nA-browncoat
Summary: My take on the butcher of Torfan through the events of Mass Effect. Chapter 2 is up.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N - This is another dark one, but I wanted to capture this moment. The tragedy of war is not only what is inflicted on the soldier, but is also what he inflicts on his enemies._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

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__Skyllian Verge,  
Torfan Moons,  
October 4__th__, 2178_

White, curling tendrils of smoke hung amidst concrete corridors, accented by the pale blue of emergency lighting. A squad of heavily armored Marines strode the halls, past bodies and over smoldering equipment. The pockmarks of weapons fire and the crumbling facades of doors were accompanied by walls and floors painted with bright red and blackish crimson streaks.

At their head stalked a large figure in dark grey armor bearing the rank of a Lieutenant. The visor of his helmet did not obscure his cold demeanor. In one armored fist hung a small cloth bag whose contents clinked softly in time with his footsteps.

His name was Shepard.

The corridors gave way to a massive cargo bay; a second level was filled by silent Marines who gazed downward in unconcealed loathing at the occupants of the ground floor. They were Pirates, murderers, _Batarians. _

_Prisoners_; spoke a part of the Lieutenants mind, on its heels came another word: _Opportunity._

His orders had been clear.

The Pirate base on Torfan had plagued the human Systems Alliance for over a decade. It had been the launching point of assaults on worlds such as Mindoir, Elysium and Franklin. Dozens of ships had been taken as prizes, their crews sold as slaves.

After defeating the Terminus Pirates in the Skyllian Blitz the Alliance would endure no more. The base would be leveled as an example.

Lieutenant Shepard _would_ _deliver_ this example.

He and his men had taken the base, but at a cost. The imbalance would be _corrected._

Shepard's thoughts were interrupted as a Gunnery Sergeant approached.

"Sir, we have the area secured. Two KIA, five wounded…" Shepard extended his hand towards the Sergeant, cutting off the flow of words.

"Give me the tags, Gunns."

Shrugging slightly in discomfort, the NCO handed Shepard two steel dog-tags. The cloth bag's draw string was loosened, and the tags added to those already within.

"Do they have wounded?" Shepard asked softly.

"No Sir. _They_ shot them."

Shepard turned a questioning look on Gunns. "Why?"

"I asked one of em, said something about that, if they'd won there would have been a cash reward on the way from Khar'Shan. Bigger shares between em' I suppose." Gunns replied.

Shepard wasn't surprised in the least. In fact, it made things easier for him.

_Opportunity._

"Want me to call in the Navy boys to come take them off our hands Sir? I'm sick of looking at them."

"No. We _are_ here to send a message."

Gunns stepped closer and lowered his voice, "Sir…Jack, we took the objective. Hell, I'm all for what you're thinking, but…"

Shepard spoke quickly, harshly; "We _save_ lives this way! It's not personal, it's _War_."

"Yes Sir. I reckon so." Gunns whispered.

Shepard turned away, and activated the platoon frequency. He gave the order for all translators to be turned off and weapons readied.

The Marines obeyed, the air becoming thick with tension. The Pirates noticed the subtle change in their captor's stance and began to shove and push each-other in the cramped bay.

Shepard stepped to the railing and his voice echoed down to the milling mass below;

"You have been found guilty of Acts of Piracy, slavery, and terrorism against the Systems Alliance. How do you plead?"

A cacophony of curses, threats, and pleas for mercy were shouted in the Batarian tongue.

Their words meant nothing to the humans.

"Your plea is denied. Under Citadel and Alliance law, I sentence you to death."

Shepard paused.

_Can I ever justify this?_

A heart-beat…

_Yes._

"Fire!"

The cargo bay shook with the roar of weapons discharge, muzzles flashing like strobe-lights.

After a few minutes, there were no more targets, and the Marines chests heaved with exertion and adrenaline.

Gunns crossed himself, and bent over to vomit.

Jack Shepard trembled.

_Forgive me, for I have sinned…_

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I'm sorry if this offended anyone, but I do hope that it makes you think. War is terrible, and maybe I captured a moment of that here.

-Redbeard


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer-I don't own a damn thing from Mass Effect._

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"What about this one?"

Anderson glanced up from the PDA he was perusing to the man sitting across from him, eyes narrowed. Leaning forward he glanced at the scrolling text that was highlighted for him.

"No. I've heard of her. Authority issues. Striking a superior should be in there somewhere."

Jack Shepard raised an eyebrow at this and grinned. "Really? Was it justified?"

Anderson shot him a look. "Hell no, she hit him because he was a man. Told her to report for mess duty. She took it as sexist I suppose. Related to some bigwig Senator back on Earth, got a slap on the wrist."

Shepard grimaced, and deleted the name from the list.

"How about Doctor Chakwas? Good performance reviews, plenty of experience…"

Anderson looked up as Shepard trailed off. "Helen? Good woman, worked with her on occasion. I thought she was still assigned to the _Einstein_?"

"Apparently not."

"Put her on the short-list." Anderson massaged his eyes with the heel of his hand before letting it fall to hit his desk with a light smack.

"I hate paperwork. Bureaucratic bullshit. Trying to torture me I bet, I'm too old to die. Got a smoke?"

Shepard pulled a pack and lighter from his pocket and smirked at Anderson. "I thought you were trying to quit?"

The older man frowned. "I was, put em' out the airlock even, made me tear up as I watched."

Shepard laughed and lit up one for himself before handing them over. Anderson coughed and hacked as he did the same.

"These things will kill you Captain."

"Shut up Shepard."

"Shutting up."

Retrieving the PDA, Anderson leaned back in his chair. "You hear that we're getting Joker Moreau as our pilot?"

Shepard smirked. "I like Joker, he's my kind of crazy. Can be an asshole sometimes, always pulls through for the team."

"He's a damn maniac and you know it Jack! I still can't get it out of my mind that he got caught getting _busy_ with three Asari whilst on duty. Not one or two, but _three_!"

"I heard he was still flying the ship at the time too. That's dedication in my book. Professionalism in the face of adversity."

Anderson grumbled a little and said, "Hearsay! They were still in dock, but as long as he holds up to his _professional _reputation then I suppose I can deal. Damn crazy kids nowadays."

"What's up next? We have Pressely on navigation, Adams in engineering, Moreau as comedy relief and Chakwas hopefully for CMO."

Anderson thought for a moment. "We need a good man to herd the Marine detachment, also need to pick a good NCO with experience to leaven out all the greenhorns Command has assigned us."

Shepard scrolled through the names on his PDA before selecting one to display. "Kaidan Alenko, Staff Lieutenant…speaks Russian fluently. Biotic, trained at BAaT. Says something about being an L2?"

Anderson nodded as he reviewed the file on his desktop. "L2's were some of the first human biotics to be implanted. Gives them greater power compared to an L3 but they have side effects. Headaches, insanity, brain damage in some cases. Seems he's avoided anything other than the headaches, psych eval is clean."

"Not much combat experience though. Boarding action on a Batarian pirate out in the Rim colonies, that's about it."

"That's why we have you Shepard."

Shepard snorted through his nose disdainfully. "I'll be in command of teenagers and a butterbar Lieutenant in his _thirties_! My combat experience has nothing to do with that."

The older man smiled behind a haze of smoke, "Look at this way, you can make it a _helluva_ life experience for them!"

Shepard's face brightened considerably.

Anderson paused a moment before saying, "Also…you should know. Alenko _will _be assigned to you no matter who I choose. He's the one non-negotiable of the bunch."

The statement permeated the formerly jovial atmosphere, a tightness now on Shepard's face.

"They want him to watch me. Because of Torfan." He stated.

"Unofficially? Yes."

The Captain continued, "Jack, you're one of our best, but Torfan made it look like you have a tendency to…_interpret_ orders."

"You're a paragon Shepard, a hero. People would twist Torfan around to make you look like a butcher. Major Kyle dropped the ball that day and you damn well know it."

The 'Butcher' dropped his head a fraction before saying, "Half my platoon KIA, that was my command failure. Major Kyle just…didn't have his head in the fight that day."

Anderson smiled sympathetically, "The Batarians were dug in deep with artillery support Jack, I've read the report and agree with your decision. If you hadn't rushed them you would have been pinned and slaughtered. You couldn't retreat, and you couldn't flank them. I would make the same decision."

Shepard still looked like was not convinced, so Anderson spoke his mind.

"John, I heard what happened afterwards…

Shepard looked up in surprise and shrugged his shoulders in discomfort.

"Look, Anderson continued, 'Those bastards needed killing. You putting them down saved human lives in the long run. I know that."

"Let's just drop it Captain. Long time past…thoughts on Alenko?"

Anderson let the matter slide but filed away his protégé's facial expression to remember later. He turned his attention to the afore-mentioned mans file.

Tapping his chin in thought he spoke, "Seems fairly competent I suppose. Psych says he's pretty quiet, keeps to himself. Highly proffessional attitude. Bit dry, but that should counter the amount of crazy that having Joker aboard should bring. I'll take him." He said with a final nod of conviction.

"Alenko's NCO up next?" Shepard voiced.

"Yup. Being able to pick your Gunnery Chief is fun. Lifers for the most part, good Marines…well, some at least."

"You _are_ getting quite a bit of discretion choosing the crew for the _Normandy_ Sir."

"Bite your tongue. Joker…the crazy bastard will drive me to an early grave just you watch."

Shepard just pretended to nod gravely at his friend, knowing Joker wasn't that bad. Well. OK, maybe a little. Actually…Oh boy.

"Well, Joker aside. I know this guy, good Marine. Everybody calls him Gunns. Kind of eccentric, but a lot of the senior NCOs are."

Anderson knew Shepard didn't give recommendations lightly so asked, "Friend of yours?"

"He was with me on Torfan. A bit cagey, eccentric like I said. Likes to yell, hates stupid people. Remember when the Batarians hit Franklin?"

Anderson nodded.

"The Batarians sent in their SpecOps guys, nasty bastards the lot of 'em. One of them came across Guns finishing up in the head and pulls a knife on him. Guns beat the shit out of the four-eyed SOB, then drowned him in the toilet."

Shepard and Anderson both laughed at that particular image, but Anderson had to ask. "Worthy of Chesty himself to be sure, doesn't mean he's qualified for a ship like the _Normandy_."

"True, but that Batarian happened to be carrying a pistol and a grenade launcher with him. Gunns has a thing about…well…_guns_, loves them, the bigger the better. He sounds the alarm then decides to join the response team in his _skivvies_."

Anderson smiled, "Sounds like just the man for the job."

Shepard yawned slightly and looked at the clock on the wall. _23:31. _"Seems like we got the important stuff locked down Captain."

"Looks like it. Meet you tomorrow at 0630 for breakfast?"

"Sure thing Captain, good night Sir."

"Night, Commander."


End file.
